Incumbent Mike Forrest chairs the city's smart growth committee and makes this clear about the growth on Coquitlam's Burke Mountain: "We have no control."
The 14-year councillor also makes a point about how the neighbouring municipality didn't help PoCo when it came to funding the Coast Meridian Overpass and it likely won't be paying for the Fremont connector, either.
So far, he is the sole candidate to support a Fremont route on the east side of the power lines, north of Prairie Avenue, as he says it will have less residential impact and will tie in with the Fremont on the Coquitlam side. But what will ultimately happen will be up to the public during next year's consultation and with the next city council, Forrest said.
In the meantime, he would like to see Burns Road - "an absolutely horrific piece of work at this point in time" - upgraded to improve traffic flow from Lougheed Highway to Prairie Avenue; Cedar Drive also needs a rework soon, he said.
Forrest said he has also been a business champion this term, heading up the mayor's task force on business opportunities and lobbying Tri-City councils to create an inter-municipal mobile business licence for the region. He wants to see the city making it easier for PoCo businesses to gain purchasing contracts with the municipality. And he's an advocate for densifying the downtown core, saying, "We need to have enough people to make it worthwhile for [small business people] to be there."
The Downtown PoCo Business Improvement Association has done a good job but more partnership is needed with the city to attract business, he said.
As for opening up the waterfront to residential and commercial interests, the mariner believes the area under the Pitt River bridge "is a classic place for waterfront development for public access and a float-home community."
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